Region No 2 Birgunj practiced for the final with a 35-run win over hosts Region No 3 Kathmandu and remained unbeaten in the robin-league round with five victories.
At BSAM, they scored 187/7 and bowled out Kathmandu for 152. Meanwhile, Region No 5 Nepalgunj emerged the winner of the far-west honor battle with a huge 147-run victory over Region No 6 Baitadi at IOE Ground.
The final between unbeaten Birgunj and Region No 4 Bhairahawa which won four of five matches is scheduled for January 13 at the TU Cricket Ground.
Nepalgunj finished third with three wins while Kathmandu followed with two wins. Baitadi registered just one win while Region No 1 Biratnagar failed to win any of their five matches.
At Bhaktapur, Birgunj won the toss and elected to bat first. Despite losing two early wickets, 5/2 in 3 overs, Birgunj had Rahul Pratap Singh to score necessary runs.
Rahul and Chandan Jha added 81 runs for third wicket. Chandan got 20 off 57 balls with a boundary but ensured that the loss incurred by early wickets was amended.
Rahul was out at 122 scoring 68 runs off 93 balls with eight boundaries. Madhav Subedi (22 off 34 balls), Gopal Singh (run-a-ball 29 not out) and Avinash Karn (19 off 12 with 3 fours) as Birgunj raced to 187/7 in 40 overs.
Kathmandu began well and they were well on course scoring 100/4 in 25 overs but lost their initiatives thenafter losing three quick wickets to go down 104/7.
It was Gopal, who did the damage taking 5/27. Milan Thapa (46 off 91 balls with four boundaries) and No 9 Sujan Basnet (26 off 39 balls) were only batsmen to play with some responsibility. Sharad Khadka (15) and Bijaya Rokaya (16) were only other batsmen to score double-digit.
Birgunj bowlers gave away 36 extra runs in 38.3 overs while bowling out Kathmandu for 152. Mohd Athar took two wickets while Avinash, Rajeev Shah and Rakesh Shah each grabbed wicket. Gopal took the man of the match award.
Karamat Khan took 5/12 for Nepalgunj's big victory. Photo by NepalSportsPhoto.com
At Lalitpur, Nepalgunj saw three of their bastmen firing to score 204/9 in 40 overs before bowling out neighbor Baitadi for 57 in 15.4 overs.
Inamuddin Halwai scored 63 off 66 balls with 9 fours while Ainnudin Ansari got 39 off 40 with six fours and a six and Saroj Basnet remained unbeaten on 41 off 43 balls with a four and a six for Nepalgunj.
Inamuddin and Saroj were involved in a 88-run partnership for sixth wicket. For Baitadi, Yuddha Bikram Chand took 4/28 while Arjun Chapagaina nd Sameer Nagarkoti each grabbed two wickets.
In Baitadi innings, Nepalgunj seamers made it impossible to score. Karamat Khan’s five-for-12, Saud Ahmed Ansari’s 3/21 got Baitadi batsmen baffled. Bibek Sharma took two wickets in the innings that only saw one bastmen scoring double-digit – Yuddha (13 off 13).
Karamat was named man of the match.
Photo by NepalSportsPhoto.com